Sanghyun Wang

Exploring America's Fascination with India

Many facets of Indian culture have been appropriated by America yoga and Buddhism,
for example and summarily transformed to fall in line with the wants of the American public.
This widespread acceptance of Indian traditions in particular is likely due to a multitude of
reasons, including a growing mistrust of the established western religions, a lack of knowledge
of the original traditions, and ease of access.
With the establishment of the British Raj in 1858, the ability of western countries to
access Indian culture greatly increased. The language barrier was lowered, and travel became
much easier. This globalization allowed Henry Olcott to explore Buddhism first-hand and
publish The Buddhist Catechism, and the Theosophical Society to promote Jiddu Krishnamurti
as the world teacher two of America's introductions to Indian culture. Perhaps more
importantly, it allowed Swami Vivekananda to speak at the Parliament of the World's Religions.
The publicity of the event greatly aided in spreading Vivekananda's message of tolerance and
universality, and further exposed America to Hinduism and Buddhism. Vivekananda's success at
the parliament also enabled the success of his Vedanta Society, founded after his speech in 1893.
Many jumped on the opportunity provided them by America's new fascination with
Indian culture, the general populace's ignorance of true Eastern traditions allowing the
reinvention of almost every imported cultural product. As with much of Indian culture that was
westernized for the public, American yoga ended far removed from its original counterpart.
Authors such as Helena Blavatsky and William Atkinson wrote of Eastern practices and
philosophies claiming Indian co-authors, being taught by enlightened gurus, and in the case of
Atkinson, taking (multiple) Indian pseudonyms. Tantrik orders greatly exaggerated the ties
between tantra and sex, further deepening the American association with Eastern culture and
eroticism. Pierre Bernard, the founder of the Tantrik Order of America, and his wife Blanche de
Vries started yoga studios, teaching physical exercises and theology and holding secret sexual
rites. With the arrival of Eugenie Peterson (a.k.a. Indra Devi) to the Hollywood scene, promising
beauty and youth, yoga was cemented as a form of physical exercise. Zen Buddhism, as
introduced to the West through D.T. Suzuki, was stripped of much of its traditional structure.
Suzuki goes so far as to say, Zen has no God to worship, no ceremonial rites to observe, no
future abode to which the dead are destined, and... no soul whose welfare is to be looked after.
This decentralization reflected well with the countercultures of the 1950's and 1960's that
were rebelling against traditional institutions. Other Buddhist traditions that made their way into
America, such as Vipassana and socially engaged Buddhism, similarly rejected the rituals and
doctrines originally essential to each tradition. The yogis of the era also spread the word of
individual paths to enlightenment and a divine right to happiness, directly in opposition to
western religions' dependence on external authority and strict rules. As with yoga, America
cherry-picked the aspects of each religion it wanted, ultimately forming new, westernized
versions of the Eastern religions. It can be argued that any culture could have taken the place of
American Hinduism and Buddhism; the two religions, however, were already entrenched in
American culture from the late 1800's, allowing them to fill in the gap most easily.